FOOTBALL – Bahrain will play Somalia in an international friendly match at home next month.
This was confirmed yesterday by an official from the kingdom’s senior men’s football national team.
The tune-up will be held on November 17 at the National Stadium in Riffa, and it will be taking place as part of both teams’ final preparations for the Fifa Arab Cup 2025 and their qualifying matches for the competition.
Bahrain’s one-off qualification contest is against Djibouti on November 26 at Doha’s Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
It is scheduled for a 4pm kick-off, Bahrain time, with the winners securing their spot in the group stage, which kicks off on December 1.
Somalia, on the other hand, will be taking on Oman in their qualifier, also on November 26 at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in the Qatari capital.
The two games are part of a series of qualifying contests for the Fifa Arab Cup’s tournament proper.
Bahrain’s national team official told the GDN that their game against Somalia is currently the only friendly lined up ahead of their regional campaign.
It will be the third fixture in just over a month’s time that Dragan Talajic’s squad will be playing African opposition.
Earlier this month, they faced continental powerhouses Morocco in Rabat and went down fighting 0-1, which they followed up with a heavy 0-4 defeat to Egypt’s B national team, which will be the same squad that will be competing in the Fifa Arab Cup.
Somalia are presently 202nd on the Fifa World Ranking and 52nd amongst senior men’s national teams in the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Djibouti are just ahead of them, ranked 196th in the world and 51st in the CAF. Bahrain are 90th worldwide and 13th in the Asian Football Confederation.
Should the Bahrainis book their seat in this year’s Fifa Arab Cup, they will be in Group D where they will join Algeria, Iraq, and either Lebanon or Sudan, who also play in a qualifier on November 26.
Group A features competition hosts Qatar, Tunisia, Syria or South Sudan, and Palestine or Libya; Group B is composed of Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Oman or Somalia, and Yemen or Comoros; and Group C includes the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, and either Kuwait or Mauritania.
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